From Cuba to Madison

During Prohibition, the Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana was a haven for thirsty Americans seeking to circumvent the 18th Amendment. The hotel, one of the greatest in the world, sported its own signature drink, developed and improved over the years into the classic cocktail known as the Hotel Nacional Special or, simply, the National.

It’s an elegant and subtle drink based on the daiquiri, but with a unique combination of pineapple juice and apricot liqueur. In Madison, the spot to sample the famed libation is undoubtedly the Cardinal Bar, where barman Franklin Parr shakes them to pair with Cuban jazz nights and Ben Sidran’s summer residency (Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m.).

“There’s an entire table of regulars that orders them every time they visit,” says Parr, who is a fan of the drink’s texture and sweet-but-not-cloying flavor. Parr sticks to classic proportions, with two ounces of local Cane & Abe rum from Old Sugar Distillery. “We use local spirits whenever we can for specials,” says Parr.

The resulting Wisco-National has tasty butterscotch notes, and the pineapple juice helps round out the young rum’s rough finish. It’s like a taste of history, and for a moment, you can imagine what it must have been like sitting seaside in Havana in the 1930s, partaking of the delicious forbidden fruit.